Planning Underway For Another Manhattan Store

May 6, 2014

Continuing its tradition of creating magnificent stores from historic buildings, Apple has begun work to transform a former bank building on New York City’s Upper East Side into a retail store. Various sources confirm that construction planning is underway for 940 Madison Avenue, a limestone and marble building now occupied by luxury retailer VBH. The building dates to 1921 and still bears the chiseled name of its original occupant, the United States Mortgage and Trust Company. It was designed by architect Henry O. Chapman and cost about $600,000. Over the years other banks became tenants, then an art gallery, another bank, and in 2002 the current retailer VBH. The building interior was renovated along the way, but now retains most of its original features. Besides the prominent location and 95-foot wide storefront, the building offers Apple ample space: 4,000 square-foot on the ground level, a 1,000 square-foot mezzanine and a 4,000 square-foot basement (with vault!). The store would fill in store coverage north of the Fifth Avenue store, and would be the sixth store in Manhattan. Based on construction schedules, the store could open in late 2015. Update: Nine days after this story was published, Apple’s architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson received permits from the city of New York for the interior demolition ($60,000) of the building, and for probing the building’s foundation ($20,000).

The current interior of VBH shows that many of the building’s original features have been retained through various renovations.